theCapraAegagrus

Quit your day job. Go to art school for 4 years. Live with your parents until you're 40 so you can pay off your loan debt. Start a blog of your useless opinions and post it everywhere. Makes friends with people that share your opinion. ????? $$$$$ Wait. What was the question..?

I'm not aware of pre-MCU considerations. All I know is that he told Marvel Studios back in Phase 1/2 that he didn't want to play a comic book hero because of the commitment. Whether a person or career decision at the time, I have no idea of his motivation. Is Prince of Persia a comic book?

Hot story, sis.

Oh - you just gave me a new business idea... I still have 2 Mana Drain proxies in my Jace deck because I haven't bought the Iconic Masters editions to replace my sold Judge Foils...

No one.

I haven't been away from the game at all (other than sanctioned tournaments)! I play every Monday. Google Shopping search shows Chaos Orb in the $400-range. I guess, at TCGplayer, it looks like those are the non-tournament legal editions...

My understanding is that CGC will not give a 10 Gem Mint grade without perfect centering, just FYI. They didn't tell me this, but I personally haven't seen (pictures of) a Gem Mint that didn't appear perfectly-centered. I agree with pretty much everything you've said, though.

Jake has openly mentioned that he didn't/doesn't want to portray a comic book hero because of their longevity. He accepted Mysterio on the premise, or expectation, that he won't be a prime character for multiple films. I'm not sure he would be a good fit as Batman, but he can act.

Ooooooooooh. Do I want to spend somewhere in the $400-range for a card that I'm gonna destroy..? Easy pass.

"As bad as" the movie that hasn't even been released yet..?

I'm falling into a hole I kinda wanted to avoid. I started collecting for Modern SS stuff, since their verification method and process appeal to me greatly. I do have some nice signed books that aren't CGC, but Hel if I know they're real signatures since I didn't witness them myself. Now I'm in a position where I'd really like to own some significant vintage original comics. I'm not opposed to buying raw, but CGC gives me peace of mind regarding restoration/conservation. You couldn't even call me an amateur because I know close-to-0 about detecting that stuff. So, the CGC aspect inflates the already-high price. I guess I should study restoration and try to become an amateur-expert. I'm confident in my grading abilities. If I can learn the restoration game then I guess I won't want/need CGC's expertise on the subject. Not sure how long that'll take (or if I can even become an 'expert' without proper extensive training)...

This is what I expect (and hope) happens. It'll be unfortunate for those who "invest" in comics. I would hope that the collectors who collected passionately can at least break-even or something, but despite demand seemingly being higher than supply, costs have to break the habit at some point. Constant inflation will prevent lower and middle classes from breeding passion for collecting. New issue prices are already excessive (especially considering content). So, either the upper class completely consumes the vintage collecting hobby, or prices have to break at some point to make product available to the aforementioned classes. I'm speaking primarily of the pre-Modern market, just because supply will never be higher than it is today. The Modern market IMO will always be volatile, and as the veterans have seen, trends spike and dive constantly among comics in that age.

There are people trying to bag & board TPBs... The hobby is going to .

And both sides contribute to the inflation. Obviously, it's not just sellers' asking prices. Buyers are buying into it. Sellers don't wanna start a lowering trend, but buyers need to buck overspending trends, too. It's messed up. It's ultimately the buyers' faults, though. The measuring stick comment was right... If we could check our egos at the login screen, we could prevent a crash. I gotta get that 9.8, tho! I'm impotent if I don't have (someone else's opinion of) NM+!

Aren't these market practices going to kill the hobby, too? I feel like that's a legitimate concern with excessive inflation. Sure, some people will cash-out high, but it's gotta crash at some point when you can't sell a book for ages, right..? Either it moves to a rich man-only's hobby or kills enthusiasm for single-comic buyer's. I'm no expert in economics, but I can't see this trend continuing. I know; A billion people have predicted another crash. The world's going to end some time, though, and that hobo on the corner will be right some day.

Some of these SA Marvel comics have awful wraps (I created a thread based on my search for Thor #126 a month or 2 ago). For whatever reason, most of the highest-of-the-high grade stuff 9.6/9.8, the wrap is just ugly. Maybe it's because all of the good-wraps in those grades are kept and rarely sold. A really nice wrap in 9.0-9.4 is kinda what I'm focused on. I also have OCD that with my collecting aspirations. My brain will set itself on fire if my SA stuff isn't all the same grade. If you don't have OCD, you won't understand, but all of the other losers with messed-up brains like me will empathize.

That's what I'm doing, but more-or-less in a CGC case. The price gaps have just been blowing my mind. Do I want a CGC 9.6 that looks like a 9.8? I'm just looking for the best-looking one with what I consider a 'reasonable' price. Not particularly easy to come by with these old things...

Gatherer says it's Banned in every format..?

CGC forums running slow for anyone else all day..?

Pretty sure my playgroup 'legalized' Blacker Lotus, only because it is useless after it's destruction. Chaos Orb has actually been illegal since that infamous play. It spread like wildfire and WotC quickly lowered the Ban Hammer to keep sanctioned tournaments healthy. I haven't played a sanctioned game since Shadowmoor, IIRC.

What else is new? Who the buys $200 coffee?

Because I typically agree with CGC's assessment, and would prefer the higher grade book if it wasn't ridiculously priced... Hence the premise of the thread...

Correct. It is a legal move.